England and Spain qualified for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship Final. England beat Israel 3-0, and Spain beat Ukraine 5-1.
England beat Israel 3-0 in the first semi-final of the European Under-21 Championship in Georgia and Romania. Cameron Archer’s joker made it 3-0 in Batumi/Gio in the 90th minute. The striker was well fired by Cole Palmer after a quick counter-attack. With plenty of space in the penalty area, Archer didn’t need to be asked twice and hit the Israeli center back to make it 3-0.
In the 65th minute, Palmer was also the center of attention himself. Once again, the English attacked the Israeli goal very quickly. Morgan Gibbs-White passed to Emil Smith Rowe in the sixteenth, who promptly crossed the ball to Palmer. He finished, but couldn’t really celebrate the 2-0 score. The assistant referee immediately raised the flag and signaled offside. Only after a minute’s consultation from the VAR could the midfielder feel happy.
Israel does not reward itself
Israel is off to a really good start. They didn’t let the English play their usual game and create chances themselves, but without becoming really dangerous. In the 13th minute, things went well in the Israeli penalty area. Anthony Gordon went down after a goalkeeper error and a shot off the post by Smith Rowe. The VAR examined and confirmed the penalty decision. Gibbs Withe showed his nerve and missed the penalty. Only in the 41st minute did he perform better when he scored to make it 1-0.
Spain celebrates victory
Spain follows England in the final of the European Under-21 Championship. Coach Santi Denia’s team won 5-1 in Bucharest against a surprising Ukraine. But the southern Europeans really had to win, at least in the first half. And the Ukrainians shocked the favorites in the 13th minute. Mychajlo Mudryk brought his impetus into the game and spectacularly dribbled the Spanish defense. Artem Bondarenko found his pass and pulled back to take a surprising lead without any problems.
The Spaniards regained their balance and responded after only four minutes. Abel Ruiz single-handedly charged towards Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin and confidently rounded him. Maksym Taloverov tried to knock the ball off the line, but even the defender could not stop the goal.
Ukrainians fought without luck
The Spaniards increased the pace and turned the game around. In the 24th minute, Oihan Sunset had two passing chances but rightly picked a shot from 20 meters out. The ball flew into the lower left corner of the goal, making it 2: 1.
In the second half, the Red-Blue finally closed the bag. Antonio Blanco (54) and Aimar Oroz (68) scored their team’s goals. The Ukrainians did not have a chance to talk about it in the second half and after 1: 4 the breath disappeared too. The Spanish found it easy to underestimate the importance of the game. The final point came from Sergio Gomez, who volleyed home from the edge of the penalty area to make it 5-1 in the 78th minute. Overall, the victory was a bit loud, because the Ukrainians fought back with their own strength.
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